Scene One – The Bachelor Party
The Guild's banquet hall had never looked less like a war camp and more like a tavern. Long tables overflowed with food, pitchers of frothing ale, and stacks of bread and roasted meats. Lanterns glowed from every corner, casting the room in a golden warmth. What had started as a "simple gathering" for Caleb had erupted into something far less restrained.
Jax was the loudest of the bunch, already standing on one of the tables with a mug in each hand, his voice booming over the music. "To Caleb, the fool who somehow convinced Cecelia to love him! May she never realize she deserves better!"
The hall roared with laughter, Caleb included. His face flushed red, whether from embarrassment or the ale already flowing through him. He raised his own mug in mock defiance. "Better than you, Jax, at least! At least I have a job now."
That only sent the room into another round of cheers.
Jeremiah, sitting more quietly at the far end, shook his head with a grin. "This is going to get out of hand."
"Already is," Leo muttered, though his smirk betrayed his amusement. The boy had never touched ale in his life, but the sight of his older companions losing composure was entertainment enough.
Across the room, Marcus had joined despite being "on vacation," claiming he wouldn't miss Caleb's downfall for anything. He was leaning back in his chair, wine glass in hand, watching the chaos with a predator's calm. "Humans and their rituals. Always an excuse to drink until they can't walk."
"Don't pretend you don't enjoy this," Lyra teased, nudging him. "I've seen you laugh twice already."
Marcus arched a brow. "A rare miracle, then."
At the center of it all sat Caleb, cheeks pink, laughing so hard his ribs hurt. For years, he had been the outsider, the one fumbling between arrogance and regret. Yet tonight, surrounded by his comrades, he felt something he hadn't in years—belonging.
He leaned back, catching Katherine's eye across the table. She smiled knowingly, as if reading his thoughts. This wasn't just his bachelor party. It was his redemption.
"Another round!" Jax howled, slamming his empty mugs down. "If Caleb's getting married, we're drinking until the sun rises!"
"Gods help us," Jeremiah muttered, though he didn't refuse the refill offered to him.
Before long, the hall devolved into games. Arm wrestling tournaments at one end, dart-throwing contests at another. Lyra and Katherine tried their hand at both, much to the horror of the men they defeated.
"Unfair," Jax groaned, cradling his bruised arm after losing to Katherine. "You're cheating with Meta strength."
"Or you're weak," Katherine shot back, grinning.
Meanwhile, Caleb found himself dragged into a drinking contest by Haruto of all people. The engineer, normally quiet and measured, had an unexpectedly dangerous tolerance. Mug after mug disappeared, and Caleb quickly realized he was in over his head. By the sixth round, his laughter had turned into coughing fits while Haruto remained stone-faced.
"Tap out?" Haruto asked flatly.
Caleb wheezed, wiping foam from his lips. "Never."
He lost the next round in spectacular fashion, collapsing onto the table as the hall erupted in cheers. Lyra shouted for someone to fetch water before Cecelia found out they had poisoned her fiancé.
By the time midnight struck, the hall was a battlefield of empty mugs, overturned chairs, and men sprawled across benches in various stages of defeat. Jax had passed out on the floor with a loaf of bread for a pillow. Jeremiah, still upright, was gently prying a mug from Leo's stubborn grip as the boy insisted he wasn't tired.
And Caleb—slumped against the wall, laughing breathlessly—thought for the first time in a long while that his heart felt light.
This was his last night as a free man, as Jax had put it. But to Caleb, it was something else.
It was the night he truly let go of the past.
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Scene Two – The Quiet After
The banquet hall had emptied at last. Servants collected dishes, dragging chairs back into place while the echoes of laughter lingered in the rafters. Caleb slipped away quietly, his head still buzzing from the ale, his steps unsteady but deliberate.
He made his way to the courtyard, where the night air was cool against his flushed skin. The stars above stretched endlessly, calm and indifferent to the chaos below. He drew in a deep breath, letting it clear his thoughts.
Leaning against the stone railing, he thought of Katherine. Of how hard it had been to let her go. He remembered the riverside, her laughter as they tossed stones into the water, her voice when she told him she loved Jeremiah. That wound had scarred, but it no longer bled. Tonight had proven it.
He smiled faintly. "I'm ready," he whispered to himself.
Footsteps approached softly behind him. Jeremiah. The healer leaned against the railing beside him, holding a waterskin. He passed it over without a word.
Caleb chuckled, taking it gratefully. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."
"Someone has to make sure you don't stumble into the wrong room," Jeremiah said dryly. But his tone softened. "You did well tonight. You've come a long way."
Caleb exhaled slowly, the weight of the words settling. "I had to. Cecelia deserves more than the man I was."
Jeremiah studied him quietly. "And what about you? Do you think you deserve her?"
The question stung, but Caleb forced himself to answer honestly. "I don't know. Maybe I don't. But I want to try. And if she'll have me… I'll spend the rest of my life making sure she never regrets it."
Jeremiah's lips curved faintly, the closest he came to a smile. "Then that's enough."
The silence between them wasn't awkward. It was steady, like the bond of two men who had once been rivals, now bound by respect. For all their clashes, tonight they stood as brothers.
At length, Jeremiah spoke again. "Tomorrow, everything changes. No more bachelor talk, no more games. You'll be a husband. And that's harder than any battle you've fought."
Caleb laughed softly, shaking his head. "Thanks for the warning."
They stood together for a while, watching the stars. In the distance, the faintest glow of dawn began to touch the horizon.
Caleb took another sip of water, his voice steady. "I'm going to ask her properly tomorrow. Not just for her hand. For her life. For everything."
Jeremiah nodded. "Then be ready. Because once you do, there's no turning back."
Caleb's heart pounded at the thought, not with fear but with anticipation. Tomorrow, he would no longer be the man chasing shadows of the past. Tomorrow, he would stand before Cecelia, not as a broken Sentinel or a man haunted by regrets, but as the one who chose her fully.
And tomorrow, she would choose him back.